52 Healthy Habits Week 6: Be a Good Student

Welcome to the latest edition of 52 healthy habits, when each week I attempt to tackle a new small lifestyle habit in order to improve in life one small way at a time. Sometimes I do well, sometimes I massively fail, but it's the trying that counts. 

I was down and out last week with the flu so I didn't do anything except rest and recover which is exactly what I am supposed to do when I am sick. Go me. Success. 

Honestly after sleeping late for a week due to the flu, it was a challenge to get up early again once I was feeling better. I shut the alarm off a few times during the week, but I did get up early on Saturday. Go figure. 

I haven't been doing great on morning pages either. It's weird. The more I feel like I have to get off my chest, the more thoughts that are swirling around in my head, the less I want to write it down. It's almost like I am scared to put in on paper in fear that someone else will read it. I prefer to keep my crazy locked up in my brain. But I think this is the point. Get it out. No one is going through my things. Either that I will write it then walk out in the back yard and set it on fire. hah.

I am back on track with my macro cycling. Obviously when I was sick, I wasn't tracking my food. I am weird, though. I never lose my appetite, even when I am sick. I think I ate more when I was sick just because I was home more often and bored. Hubby made me his famous grilled cheese that has a layer of cream cheese in between the cheese slices. Comfort food. Yum. 

NUTRITION STUDY

Speaking of cream cheese sandwiches, I may have mentioned that I am studying Sports and Exercise Nutrition with Precision Nutrition. When I say studying I really mean I haven't done $hit with it since November. It's a great online program, that requires reading a chapter in the textbook, watching online videos, completing workbook questions, then taking an online chapter quiz. I was moving through it about one chapter a week before Thanksgiving then completely fell off the wagon. 

One of the reasons that nutrition study is so important to me is that shortly after becoming a trainer and a running coach I realized that physical training is nearly ineffective unless the nutritional component is in place. No matter what the clients goals are, whether fat loss, sports or running performance, I can't effectively help someone unless I can also help them with nutrition.

Now I know nutrition in the sense that I know what works for me. That's not enough. Everybody is different and can respond differently. The least effective coaches in my opinion are the ones that say 'it worked for me, do what I do.' Anyone can tell people to eat whole natural foods. That doesn't qualify a person to coach nutrition. So I wanted to dig in learn more about nutritional science. I can tell my clients they need protein to build muscle or carbohydrates for sports performance, but I needed a deeper understanding of the science. Enter Precision Nutrition, one of the most respected online nutrition study programs. 

When I finish this program I can call myself a nutrition coach and frankly, I can call myself a nutrition coach today. There are not any state or legal requirements around this title. The certification is for my own knowledge so that I can offer the best science-based coaching possible. Nutritionist and nutrition coach are different than Registered Dietitian (RD) which requires licensing from the state. The difference is that as a nutrition coach, I am permitted to coach people on the basics of nutrition. I am not permitted to tell people exactly what to eat or attempt to treat any condition with food (including obesity). In other words, It is outside of my scope of practice to write meal plans to help you lose weight, but I am permitted help educate you on macro nutrients, micro nutrients, daily calorie intake, portion sizes, food choices, food quality, nutritional labels, food shopping and whatever science you care to know.

I want to finish this program so I can more effectively coach my clients using nutrition as the base for most fitness and health related goals. Yes, exercise is important, but nutrition is crucial. Get your nutrition on track first, then build on that with strength and cardiovascular training. 

ACCOUNTABILITY IS KEY

So what's the problem? I simply have not been putting in the work. So I decided it was time to take my own advice. I am always telling clients and readers to find an accountability partner in order to reach their goals. We often feel more accountable to other people than we do ourselves. I joined a Facebook group of Precision Nutrition students and found an accountability partner. We were in about the same place in our studies, so we decided we would talk once a week to hold each other accountable. We had our first call this week and talked about what we planned to complete within the week. I am going to get through two chapters by next Monday when we have a phone date to speak again. I know there is no way I am going to let myself fall short of this goal. I am sure she is going to do what she promised, so I need to hold up my end of the bargain.

This is a brilliant strategy for getting things done. This person is a total stranger to me that has a similar goal. You can find your own accountability partner to reach your goals. It can be a family member, a friend or a facebook buddy. Just having someone to check it with each week who will give you $hit if you don't do what you said can be the difference between success and failure. I love when I take my own advice. I am excited about my new study buddy and I already cracked open the book and am deep in the latest chapter.

I'll say that I am marketing gal so science is hard for me but I know I am smart and with some dedication, consistency and accountability, I can achieve any goal. AND SO CAN YOU.

What are your goals for the week? Let me know in the comments, then check back in a week and tell me how you did. That's accountability.

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Do You and Fitness Have a Commitment Problem?

Now that the lovey dovey Valentine's Day talk is over, let's talk about an important topic: Commitment. Are you committed? Often we fall in love with the idea of working out, get excited, make big plans and then fail to follow through. Once the excitement wears off and reality of the hard work sets in we give up and move on. Just like a love that loses it sizzle, we get bored and start looking for the next thing. How can we stay committed when we want a lasting relationship with fitness?

I'm not going to pretend that I am always motivated. I'm just like you. I have a job, a small business, home responsibilities, a blog (or two) and a social life (just kidding about that last one). I sometimes feel tired, skip workouts or tell myself "I'll get back on track tomorrow." It happens, even to trainers, but I do make movement and nutrition a priority in my life. That means that even if I don't get in a traditional workout, I make sure I am still moving and feeding myself properly to ensure I look, feel and perform my best. I hold myself to high standards but I don't allow negative self-talk if I fall short. I do the best I can with what I have.

There are some strategies you can put in place to ensure you stick to your fitness goals long after the honeymoon is over, for a lifelong commitment to health and fitness. 

COMMIT TO FIT

SCHEDULE IT

Put it on your calendar, just like you would for a doctor's appointment or a dinner date. I find that if I schedule my workout for first thing in the morning it is less likely to get brushed off. I like getting my workout or a long walk done before life gets in the way. 

MAKE IT FUN

Fitness doesn't have to be 3 sets of 12 reps on each major muscle three times a week. If that sounds boring, do something else. Find a way to move your body that is fun for you and commit to it. Dancing, running, climbing and playing all count. You probably wouldn't continue to date someone who bored you to tears, would you? Find an exercise that you love to make it last. 

FIND A PARTNER

Having a workout partner can go a long way in staying committed to our goals. The truth is we often feel more accountable to other people than we do ourselves. If we know someone is counting on us to show up we don't want to let them down. If you don't have a friend or partner that is into fitness don't give up hope. Look for community events on MeetUp, join a local class, hire a coach or look for accountability partners online. 

TAKE BABY STEPS

Start small and build the habit first. 15 minutes a day of exercise is always better than an hour you didn't do. Commit to just 15 minutes a day. Do it until it becomes routine. You have the rest of your life to grow, it is ok to start small. Besides, more is not always better in exercise. Short focused sessions can be sustainable over a lifetime. Take it slow, get to know what works best for you.

SET GOALS

If you are working towards a goal, say your first 5k or half marathon PR, it gives you the reason to keep putting in the work every day, long after the excitement of a new workout plan has worn off.

If we want our love of fitness to last a lifetime we have to implement sustainable strategies and work hard to make it last, just like any good relationship.

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Running Journal Free Printable Download

If you've been following along you may have read that I had the flu. Cue internet sympathy. Wait? No one cares? Oh yeah. hah.

My eyes stared at the blank MacBook Air screen as I lied on the couch covered in my favorite leopard print blanket (aka Alison), but my foggy flu brain wasn't cooperating. I was easily distracted by Facebook, Netflix (Walking Dead marathon) and coughing fits. I just couldn't pull it together enough to write my usual blog posts for the week. Lucky for me I was working on another printable this week before I got sick, this time a run journal. We'll get back to 52 Healthy Habits next Monday (spoil alert: I was sick so no habits were established) so this week I want to share my new printable with you.

It can be beneficial to journal your runs, not only to track your miles (because most of us have watches and apps that do that) but to track how you feel and how you performed.

Since I am a blogger and a writer at heart it is very natural for me to journal my runs. I don't write a novel each time, but I take note of how many miles I ran, how I felt, what the weather was like, how I slept the night before and what I ate surrounding my run. It's amazing to see how those things can affect your run. Once you start to track these details certain trends may start to emerge.

I like to journal so I can look back and see how far I've come. I seem to forget every summer that the brutal Texas heat takes at least a minute off my pace and then I wonder why I am so slow. The weather can make a big difference! When I journal I can look at my runs from last summer to compare rather than runs during the cooler spring temperatures.

I made this weekly journal that you can print out and jot down notes after your run. 

Enter your email below to get the PDF version to print out.

WEEKLY GOAL

It's a good idea to establish a goal for the week. It may be to run three times or a certain number of miles or hit a certain pace, but writing in down and looking over it each day goes a long way on the road to achieving it.

PERSONAL RECORDS

This is a place to record your personal records (your fastest finishing time) for 5K, 10K, 1/2 marathon and full marathon. If you haven't ran these distances you could use this space to record your goal race dates.

DAILY MILES AND PACE

Jot down the number of miles you ran, your pace or how long it took you to complete. At the bottom of the weekly miles there is a space to record your month-to-date and year-to-date miles.

FEEL | WEATHER | FUEL | SLEEP

Just a quick word or two on how you felt during the run, what the weather was like, how you ate and how you slept the night before. 

WEEKLY NOTES

Make any notes here during the week or at the end at the week in reflection.

RUNNING SHOES

I like to rotate between two pairs of shoes which makes it harder to keep track of the miles on each pair. Most people need to replace their running shoes every 300-600 miles, depending on type of use (trail runners may need to replace sooner), your weight and other factors. You usually can tell when you need to replace your shoes by the cushioning and the tread, but it's a good idea to have some awareness of how many miles on your shoes. Use this space to keep a running total of the miles on your shoes. 

REFLECTION

Take a minute and reflect on your best, your longes, your fastest and your hardest run of the week. Take a moment to pat yourself on the back for another successful week. 

Ready? Set? Get it. 

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10 Lessons Learned from Weight Loss Applied to Small Business Success

You may think I am biased (and maybe I am) but I believe fitness is the foundation of a happy and successful life. I am not suggesting that fitness has to be your whole life, but if you make health and movement a priority then the benefits and rewards make your whole life better. 

When you make health a priority you look, feel and perform your best. Exercise is good for your heart, your body and your brain. When I start my day with exercise I have a clearer head, a happier disposition, better stress management and feel more equipped to tackle the day.

I am a full-time marketing director in the corporate world trying to get this fitness business off the ground. Some days I feel full of hope and inspiration and other days I feel defeated and overwhelmed. Time and time again I find that a lot of the struggles and triumphs of starting a new business relate directly to the struggles and triumphs when losing 40 pounds and making fitness a priority in my life.

These days fitness comes easy for me. Of course I am not always hyper-motivated but I always find a way to make health, movement and nutrition a priority in my life...but it wasn't always that way. I went through a physical and (more importantly) mental transformation. I can relate to my weight loss clients because I have been there. I remember what it feels like. But there are days I see people struggling with the exact same things I struggled with and I want to wave my magic wand so they get it. Then I remember I am struggling too, but in a different realm with a new business. The themes are exactly the same. I can take the lessons I learned from my weight loss journey and apply them to my new business journey and expect to see the same successes.

OVERCOME FEAR AND SELF-DOUBT

When I was overweight I remember clearly sitting in traffic on my way home from work and feeling frustrated with my weight, my progress and started questioning my ability to reach my goals. I remember thinking, with tears rolling down my cheeks, "Do I just have to accept that I am an overweight person now?" I had tried and failed so many times that I started to believe I couldn't do it, that maybe I just had to accept my new larger body size as my new reality. 

Now I know that was just fear and self-doubt. Of course I could reach any goal I set out to reach as long as I worked hard, remaining consistent and had a positive mindset. 

The same things apply in my business. "Do I just have to accept that I will work my corporate job forever?" No! The same principles apply. I need to push past the fear and self-doubt and move an inch forward every day. 

GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE

If it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you. As trainers we are always telling our clients to push outside their comfort zone. It can be scary to try new workouts, experiment with new recipes and make lifestyle changes. You know what? Fitness is my comfort zone. Even when I am working hard or feeling uncomfortable in fitness, I know it is a good place. I like it there.

You know what is uncomfortable for me? Selling myself. Success in business relies on getting out of your comfort zone as much as success in fitness. It would be hypocritical to ask my clients to get out of their comfort zone while I sit idly by in my own. Note to self: Putting yourself out there is scary. Do it anyway. 

REMAIN CONSISTENT

“What you do everyday matters more than what you do once in awhile”

— Gretchen Rubin

Consistency is key to success in fitness. Working out for an hour once every two weeks or eating a healthy diet every Monday won't get you anywhere, but finding 15 minutes a day to exercise and remaining consistent with your diet can be difference between success and failure. 

Same in business. I have to show up everyday, put out regular content and engage with my audience. I have to work on it even when I don't feel like it or when no one is paying attention. The more I put into it, the more I get out of it. Just like in fitness you can't expect overnight success. It is the small daily actions that snowball into big results over time. 

PUT IN HARD WORK

Almost nothing worth having comes easy. If getting in shape was easy we would all we walking around with six pack abs. As much as I believe in the power of positive thinking, you can't just sit around and hope for good things to happen. If you want success in fitness it is going to take some work and some uncomfortable changes. It's the actions that produce results. I worked really hard to achieve success in my fitness lifestyle. I exercised, I changed my diet and I changed my lifestyle. It wasn't easy at first, but it was worth it. 

I look at other successful business owners and they make it look so easy, but what I don't see is the years of work and struggle behind the scenes. Success requires hard work. There is always a learning curve. I have to be willing to put in the work even when there is not an immediate and apparent payoff. 

CELEBRATE SMALL WINS

You don't always see results on the scale, but there are other indicators that let you know you're on the right track: Your clothes fit better, you sleep better, you have more energy, you lost inches in your body measurements, you can climb the stairs without huffing and puffing. If you only measure success by one criteria it can be easy to get frustrated. Look for the small wins in fitness and celebrate them often. 

Same goes for business. If you only measure success by dollars in the bank it might feel like the process is slow and unrewarding. I have to remember that small wins include people sharing my blog posts, asking questions, showing up at my bootcamps, telling me that I helped them. I have to celebrate the small wins in business along the way to stay motivated as I work towards the big goals

TRACK PROGRESS

Tracking is everything. How are you supposed to know where you are going unless you know where you came from? You are what you measure. How can you celebrate small wins if you don't know that you lost 1" in your waist because you didn't measure it. 

Are my website's unique monthly pageviews growing? How about my social media channels? How are my shares or Pinterest saves compared to last month? How are my sales and sponsored blog posts? What about my expenses? If I don't track I simply don't know if I am improving or treading water. Just like in fitness, once I have the data, I can start to construct the action plans to make improvements where needed. 

EMBRACE THE SETBACKS

Anyone who has ever achieved anything knows that there is not a straight line to success. Some of the setbacks in my own fitness journey included injuries and work stress that derailed my focus. I have experienced temporary setbacks but I found a way to overcome them and they only made me smarter, stronger and better equipped to handle future problems. 

I know I can expect setbacks in business, it is part of the process. It's how I learn and grow. I won't be shocked or derailed by them, I will try to embrace them because they are the catalyst to growth. (Note to self: reread this when things go wrong.)

MAKE SACRIFICES

It's a given in fitness that if you want success you probably need to make some sacrifices. You may have to pass on the nightly tub of Ben & Jerry's or turn down a Friday night party because of your training run in the morning. It's not to say that you can never have fun or enjoy indulgent foods, of course you can. I am big proponent of moderation. But success in fitness largely depends on our ability to delay gratification. I can have a slice of pizza or three, I am just going to wait until my "indulgence day" (I don't like the term "cheat"meal, it's not a cheat if it is part of the plan). I sacrifice my short term desires for my long term goals because I know the long term payoff is bigger than the short term reward. 

Business takes sacrifices too. I sacrifice my free time. I sacrifice my spending money. Sometimes my sanity. Making sacrifices now is essential to success in the future. 

ENJOY THE JOURNEY/BE PATIENT

Fitness is a journey. There is no finish line. The sooner that you come to this realization, the more successful and less frustrated you will be. Sure you may have goals, but look at them like stepping stones along the way. I can tell you that meeting that goal weight, new pant size or PR will not automatically make you happier with a perfect life. There is no endgame in fitness. It is a lifestyle. Your goals should be changing, evolving and growing over the years. Learn to be patient and enjoy the journey because the journey is your life. Happiness doesn't come at the end, it happens now. 

This is so hard for me because in my business I fall into that future thinking that I warn my clients about in fitness. "If only I had (fill in the blank), then I'd be happy." The key is to remember to feel happy now. Feel grateful for the learning curve, the opportunities and the challenges because all these things are making me smarter, stronger and better equipped to run my business tomorrow. I'll get there but today I am here and it's a pretty good place. 

HAVE PASSION

If you don't like to exercise you probably are not going to wake up tomorrow with a burning desire to go to CrossFit. The key is to find something that you enjoy. There are so many ways to move your body there is surely one way that will resonate with you. It may take some experimenting. Try some new classes and activities, think outside the box when it comes to exercise. Walking, running, hiking, biking, weightlifting and playing sports are just a few ways you can move your body and clear your mind. There are countless other ways. It is harder to be successful if you force yourself to do things you hate. You may be able to power through for a few weeks or months, but eventually you'll you'll quit. You don't have to fall in love with exercise (like I did) you just have to find a way to not hate it. 

The thing that keeps me going in this business is my passion for fitness and writing. I can wake up every day and write blog articles and workout plans because I genuinely love it. It feeds my soul. It's my creative outlet. Even if no one was reading (thanks for reading) or showing up at my bootcamps, I keep going because I love it. If I were trying to pursue a business in something that I wasn't as passionate about, I may not have the drive to keep going when progress is slow. 

Did I miss anything? The lessons we learn in fitness translate to all facets of life. If you have found success in one area of your life, think about how you can apply those same lessons to your current struggles. 

This whole blog post is just a pep-talk to myself, so if I helped you in some small way, that is a bonus. In fitness I am guilty of saying, "If I can do it anyone can." because when I look back at what I achieved it never seems as hard as I made it out in my own head. But when I'm in the trenches of something new it can feel overwhelming or impossible. Someday I will be looking back at my successful business and say "If I can do it anyone can."

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52 Healthy Habits Week 5: Stop the Scrolling

We are five weeks into my new series, 52 healthy habits, where I attempt to tackle a new healthy habit each week. I believe that no matter where you are in your fitness journey there is always room for incremental improvements for a healthier, happier life. 

As I work on new habits I am sure some will stick and others will fall away. I'll have successes and failures along the way. I am just five weeks in and I have already had some struggles adopting and following through with some of these ideas. While I write this series for accountability for myself and to get you thinking about the small changes you can make, I don't use it to feel bad about myself. If I have a bad week, if I don't follow-through on some of my intentions, I try to examine what went wrong to see how I can do better in the future or reexamine if I need it in my life at all. I never feel bad about what I failed to do in the past. The past is over. I am looking to get better in the future. 

Last week my new habit was writing 'morning pages.' I did OK. Not perfect. I wrote a few days and missed a few days. The days I missed were all days that I forgot to do it until it was too late and I had to leave for work. This just tells me I have to do a better job of listing out my morning to-do's and then actually look at the list. (I am notorious for writing lists but never looking at them because they are sooo far away in my backpack in the other room. hah.) So next week as I tackle my new habit, I will continue to work on morning pages to improve over last week. 

Week 3 was tracking my macros and attempting to do a better job in hitting the targeted percentages. I planned ahead and did much better last week. I still wasn't exact, but I am finally getting into the groove of planning ahead, entering meals in advance and adjusting as needed. I am improving a lot over the previous weeks.

My most successful new habit despite a very rocky start is getting up at 5:30am every day (even on weekends) to work on my blog, business or to workout. It still feels hard, but getting slightly easier. We slept in to 8:30 on Saturday this week because my husband plays drums and he had a late show on Friday night and slept until 6:30 on Sunday because...well, because Sunday. Every other day we were up and at 'em at 5:30 and I am pretty proud of that especially considering how poorly we did the first week. 

WEEK 5: STOP THE SCROLLING

I have a problem. It's a real addiction. The scrolling. Even when I get up early some mornings I spend way too much time scrolling Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram and then I don't get anything productive done. That defeats the purpose of rising early. The point of getting up early is to have more hours in my day to be productive, not to waste those hours on social media that I could have been sleeping.

Then it doesn't end there. I get home from work in the evenings, eat dinner, do dishes, walk Ollie and then it's usually around 8 or 8:30. At this point, as long as I have my 10k steps, I sit my butt on the couch and scroll social media on my iPad until bedtime! This is a massive waste of time and I need to do better. I have so many dreams, plans and ideas that all require execution and execution requires time. I have the time. I just need to use my time more wisely.

I look at it as my unwinding time, but reading is a much more productive unwinding activity. This week my intention is to spend 15 minutes catching up on emails and social media in the morning after my walk and then put social media away for the rest of the day. I can spend another 15 minutes when I get home from work, that is still 30 minutes a day, but an improvement. I will unwind with a book in the evening instead of my iPad. I know with a little thought I can make massive improvements in this area. 

Often our bad habits sneak in and we don't even notice them until they they are out of control, but if we focus on them and strive for improvement we can make the changes necessary to restore a healthy balance. 

Stay tuned next week as I tackle a big one that I have been putting off since Thanksgiving. Yikes.

Can you relate? What healthy habits are you tackling this week? If you need some help tracking your new habits, I created a free tracker download. 

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